# Stop the Calls, Part 28: "We found an error in your application." What application? > A caller says there's an error on an application you never sent. Here are the three questions to ask, and why you should correct nothing. By Elie Mendlow · Published October 30, 2026 · Updated November 1, 2026 Section: Brokers & Harassment › Your Rights & the Law · Series: Stop the Calls (https://mcafax.com/notebook/series/stop-the-calls) Canonical: https://mcafax.com/notebook/stop-the-calls-part-28-application-error-call Source: MCAFax, The Broker's Notebook (https://mcafax.com/notebook). MCAFax is not a lender or a law firm. --- "Quick one. There's an error on your funding application, so I just need your EIN and the account your deposits land in." You never applied. But he has your name, your business name and your cell. This is Part 28 of Stop the Calls. Today: why the "error" call works, and the three questions that end it. General information, not legal advice. The call above and Tidewell Dog Grooming (a made-up shop) below are invented examples. ## Why "error" is the opener A sales pitch gets a no. A problem gets an answer. "Error on your application" sounds like paperwork, so owners stop screening and start helping. And the fix always needs something: your EIN, your date of birth, the last digits of your bank account. Each answer fills in a lead file. [Part 6](https://mcafax.com/notebook/stop-the-calls-part-6-lead-sellers) covers how those files get sold. Sometimes a real form sits behind it, like a quote form you filled out once. [Part 19](https://mcafax.com/notebook/stop-the-calls-part-19-quote-form) covers how one form can open months of calls. ## The tactic: three questions, zero corrections Tidewell's owner got the "error" call twice in one week. The third time, she asked three questions and wrote the answers in her [call log](https://mcafax.com/notebook/toolkit/call-log-template). **Question 1: "What date was it submitted?"** A real application has a date. A bought lead usually doesn't. **Question 2: "Which website or company took it?"** If they name one, you've found the leak. If they can't, there's no application. **Question 3: "What's the legal name of your company, and a number where I can reach it?"** Telemarketing callers have to give their own name, the company the call is for, and a phone number or address ([47 CFR 64.1200(d)(4)](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-47/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-64/subpart-L/section-64.1200)). **The one rule: correct nothing.** Don't confirm your EIN, your birthday or any account number. A lender holding a real file can email you from its own company address. ## The script "I didn't submit an application. Tell me the date it came in, the website that took it, and your company's legal name and phone number. I won't confirm any numbers on this call. Add [phone numbers] to your internal do-not-call list. I'm logging this call now." Tidewell's owner read it on call three. The caller said, "No problem, I'll update the file," and hung up. He never gave a date or a website. ## If someone really applied in your name If the caller names a real date and a site you never used, someone may have applied with your details. 1. Write down what the caller said: date, site, amount, company. 2. Find the company's number on its own website. Don't use theirs. 3. If your personal information was used, the FTC lists the steps at [the FTC's identity theft site](https://www.identitytheft.gov). 4. [Report the call to the FTC](https://reportfraud.ftc.gov). ## How we use AI on this When we help an owner, an AI sorts what the caller claimed from what they actually proved. Try it in any AI chat: "Here are my notes from a call about a business loan application I never submitted. List every claim the caller made, and say whether they gave anything I can check, like a date, a website or a company name. Then list everything they asked me to confirm." If the second list is longer than the first, you're the one filling in their file. ## Where the rules help, and where they stop - Identification: under FCC rules, telemarketing callers must name themselves, the company they're calling for, and a way to reach it (47 CFR 64.1200(d)(4)). - Pretending: the FTC's impersonation rule bans falsely posing as a business or claiming a false affiliation with one ([16 CFR 461.3](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-D/part-461)). That covers a caller who pretends to be your bank or your funder. - Business lines: the National Do Not Call Registry doesn't cover them at all. It's for personal numbers. Most of the FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule also exempts calls to businesses ([16 CFR 310.6(b)](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-310/section-310.6)). - The TCPA is [47 U.S.C. 227](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/47/227). What applies depends on the call and the line. None of this promises an outcome. Logged questions with no answers are a record you can report. More in [Know Your Rights](https://mcafax.com/notebook/series/know-your-rights) and the guide to [stopping MCA broker calls](https://mcafax.com/notebook/stop-mca-broker-calls). ## Your checklist 1. Never applied? Say so first. 2. Ask for the date, the website and the company's legal name. 3. Confirm nothing. 4. Ask for the do-not-call list and log the call. 5. Real date, unknown site? Follow the FTC's identity theft steps. Coming in Part 29: the "your funder sold your account to us" call, and how to check who really holds your advance. ## Questions readers ask **Why do brokers say there's an error on my application?** A problem gets an answer when a pitch gets a no. The "fix" usually asks you to confirm details like your EIN or bank account. **Should I correct the information they read back to me?** No. Confirm nothing on the call. A lender holding a real file can email you from its company address. **Do callers have to tell me who they are?** Under FCC rules, a telemarketing caller has to give their name, the company the call is for, and a phone number or address. **What if someone applied using my information?** Write down what the caller said, contact the company through its own website, and follow the FTC's steps at [the FTC's identity theft site](https://www.identitytheft.gov). **Does the Do Not Call Registry cover my business line?** No. Business lines aren't covered by the National Do Not Call Registry at all. It's for personal numbers.